We are currently working with the USDA on the Texas Fire Ant Initiative. This project is focused on testing the effectiveness of applications and biological methods to decrease red imported fire ant populations in the South regions in the United States.

Red imported fire ant infestations were first documented in Texas in 1953, and now over 56 million Texas acres are infested with fire ants.  To control the spread of fire ants, the Texas Department of Agriculture initiated a county quarantine program in 1958 when it quarantined the state’s six most eastern counties.  The fire ant quarantine failed to stop the westward spread, and today, 160 Texas counties are under quarantine.

In 1997, in order to control the spread and document the severity of the fire ant infestation, the Texas legislature funded a 6-year red imported fire ant initiative at an annual funding rate of $2.5 million.  The specific objectives of the legislative initiative were to document the economic and biological severity of fire ant infestations and to discover appropriate and cost-effective management programs to alleviate the continued damage from this pest in the future.  This paper presents results from the economics component of the initiative’s first and second two-year phases.  Currently, fire ants are making their way up the coasts of America and spreading into the interior of the country where water amounts are suitable for their needs. 

Fire Ant Facts

The imported red fire ant is becoming one of the world’s biggest pests.  These insects, though small and normally thought of as inconsequential to man, are fierce and deadly.  These military style predators have been known to damage or ruin fields, machinery, crops, animals, homes, and even people.  Their chewing mouthparts are capable of chewing through various materials including wood and electrical wire, which gives an idea of how control would be important to homeowners.  Fire ant mounds can be large or small.  Annually, the older, more established ant mounds could grow on average from 10 to 24 inches in diameter, 18 inches high, and extend into the ground about six feet.  Theses types of mounds cause damage to machinery used in agricultural production.

Fire ants can travel by water, which explains why they have made their way up the coastlines.  They are capable of making “rafts” with their bodies.  A large group of these ants can catch and kill small fish for a source of food.

Currently, complete eradication of these insects is not possible.  However, advanced research has shown that the use of chemicals and biological controls, such as Phorid flies and Thelohania fire ant disease (infected larvae), have been useful in slowing their advancement.  Unfortunately, fire ants have no dormant period; this alone is the reason why they are difficult to control.